Adobe Apollo has potential... but are we ready for another runtime?

Adobe recently announced the pre-release Alpha build of the Apollo Platform SDK, runtime and documentation. In case you didn’t know, it is a cross-operating system runtime - a platform that will allow developers to create to desktop applications using existing web development skills such as Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript and Ajax. Web applications can be run online or offline through Apollo. It will have the traditional benefits of desktop applications - speed, drag and drop functionality from the desktop to the application, and accessing the file system. Apollo is cross-platform, meaning any application developed for it will run on Windows, Mac and Linux machines. According to Adobe, existing web applications can be easily ported to the Apollo platform.

Unable to resist the temptation, I downloaded the SDK last night and played around with it a bit. The first Alpha release is focused at Flex(TM) based applications whilst the next Beta release will be targeted at HTML based applications. At a first glance, I feel it has a lot of potential. Will keep you all posted about the features and benefits as I explore more of it. Maybe I can post some code too. Meanwhile you can download the Alpha release from the Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/apollo/) and go through the samples. I wish they posted sample codes of all the showcased applications, keeping in view that it is a very new technology and early adopters will need a lot of help.

Nokia Maps is coool!!!

smart2go (a.k.a. Nokia Maps) is cool. It is a mapping and navigation platform available for free download. I installed it in my data-enabled Nokia E50 (it supports only Symbian S60 3rd Edition &Windows Mobile 5) and did a few “routine” mapping tasks. After a rather longish initial start-up, it ran like a breeze.

Using the additional “MapLoader” PC application, I downloaded the India dataset which is around 10.1MB. After installation, the 10 MB data exploded to around 128 MB!. What irritated me is that the data has to be downloaded directly to the phone (connected via USB) and it took around 60 minutes to download the same over a high-speed broadband connection. This means that for 60 minutes, my phone was in offline mode (Later I realized, i can use a Card Reader too!). There is no way you can download the data to your desktop and transfer it later. This also means that if you are traveling, you need to download and store all the countries maps you visit in your memory card. Considering the fact that some datasets like USA are more than 100 Megs, you really need to invest in a high-capacity memory card. One thing that annoyed me was the fact that although I had the India dataset installed, everytime I did a map query (as simple as searching for India Gate in Delhi), it does a search over the web and not the local dataset. This is in clear defiance to the statement “If all the desired map data is stored, no network connection is needed for mapping, routing and navigation” (Source: http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1103306). I think it is a bug that needs to be resolved.

The data quality of the US and European countries are excellent. The India dataset is very barebones. The Delhi map has only the major roads and lacks POIs, minor roads and routing capabilities. I tried the routing from my usual hotel in Geneva, Switzerland to my workplace and it was amazing. Since I do not have a GPS unit and I was not in Geneva, I did a route simulation and it drove me via the exact route my bus usually takes. The POI markers were very accurate and I managed to search for my favourite Mexican restaurant! The website says that the product is in Beta stage and more data is being added though.

The user interface and menu options are very intuitive and easy to use. The icons are crisp and colorful. You can store numerous landmarks and just select them from the list to set your route start and end points. Alternatively it also allows you to make your selections on the map.

Advanced Navigation and City Guides are paid services and can be purchased over-the-air.

Nokia Maps is impressive but needs to be refined. The India dataset is poor and downloading data every time even though it is installed is a pain. Thank heavens I have an unlimited data plan from Airtel.

If you have a Nokia E /N Series or a Windows Mobile 5 phone, try out the application for free at www.smart2go.com.

My Wishlist:

1. Ability to download data to a desktop and transfer to mobile device as and when required
2. Faster data download. Even through the MapLoader application, downloading a 10MB dataset took more than an hour. This is ridiculous.
3. Detailed India data with POI, route planning and Minor roads
4. Make the data less heavy. PLEASE.
   

I will add more to this list as I explore more of this application